In Hong Kong, it is now approaching 10 o'clock on Sunday morning. I had a little less than 3 hours sleep last night, I've already done 4 distinct things since leaving work on Friday evening, and I've got 2 more to do today, one of which I've organised.

On Friday night, I went straight from work to The Hong Kong Fringe Club, a small art/performance/entertainment venue, to see a show called HKID (link may not persist). The Fringe is worth a post in its own right - it's one of the most interesting places to hang out in Hong Kong, in terms of variety, and I've found myself spending a lot of time there in the past, and should make an effort to go more often. This time, I was going for a particular reason, since a friend of mine was part of the ensemble cast for the show, and I knew very little about what I was going to see. I went by myself - I knew I had plenty of other things planned for the weekend, I wanted to see the show, and I didn't want to start spamming friends on Friday afternoon to see if anyone was available - but I ended up bumping into someone I knew, someone so random that if I'd listed 10, 50, 100 people I could have met there, he wouldn't have appeared on any of the lists. As an aside, that's a normal Hong Kong thing - it's a very very rare event, nowadays, for me to go out and not find I've met someone I wouldn't have expected to meet. The show was very good, a series of vignettes, mostly monologues, covering different aspects of life and identity in Hong Kong, from many angles. Some were touching, like the old orange seller in the Graham Street food market, reflecting on her long life, and her fear for the future as the plans for 'redeveloping' the market go ahead, or the two-part scene with a mama-san and a dancer at a girlie bar in Wanchai telling their stories to the audience. Some scenes were funny, like the American tourist trying to get directions from a local on the street, unable to pronounce Chinese place names, getting frustrated at the local's lack of English, which it turned out was only put-on so he wouldn't have to deal with tourists. Some scenes were insightful, in particular the Italian woman (who happened to be played by my friend Nicole) sitting in a bar, lamenting the fact that all the men in Hong Kong are obsessed with cute girly little Chinese girls, while at the same time she won't even give the time of day to a Chinese man who approaches her. The scenes were interspersed with very very short answers to questions like "Hong Kong is..." and "What I like about Hong Kong is...". In general, as someone who's lived here for a couple of years now, I recognised a lot of my own feelings in the show, and it was well worth going. I'll admit that it was enhanced by going up to the rooftop bar afterwards for a chat with Nicole, and meeting and chatting with the writer/director, Kat Cooper, who also acted, and being able to discuss it with her and get some of the background history and rationale behind the show.

To sum up: I like the Fringe, I was impressed by the show, including both the writing and acting, and will keep an eye out for new work from the same company. Final point: Nicole on stage in underwear - HOT!

After the show and the drink, I wandered home, looking for something to eat on the way, since I hadn't really had dinner, but I had had a couple of drinks and wanted something to soak them up. Popped into a Mexican place in Soho, whose kitchen had closed, but did find a young lady of my acquaintance in there, bringing my 'random meetings' score up to 2 for the night. I ended up going to a Lebanese hole-in-the-wall place for a falafel - I don't eat it very often, but it's near the top of my comfort food list, and it's nice to know I can get a nice genuine one not far from home at midnight...

Yesterday, apart from some time arguing with Hong Kong Post on the phone - nothing particularly serious, but annoying, and with a happy ending - I went skating and shopping with my flatmate. She's been taking skating lessons for a while, as it happens in the same building as my office, and she likes to go and practice every now and again at the weekend. I've been a couple of times before recently and, well, while I can't claim to be a skater, I can claim to do a good impression of one - I can do a full circuit of the rink without falling over or hitting anyone, can control my speed and direction reasonably well, and I enjoy it. I also bought a pair of 'dumbbel balls', since in general, I have an urge to juggle any balls I happen to get my hands on, and it seemed that juggling with 1kg balls might be a nice way to get a little bit of exercise in.

Last night - and for anyone who knows me, yes, you have my permission to laugh - I went to a salsa night at a bar in Lan Kwai Fong. The less said about it, the better, other than it was sort of fun, sort of sweaty, there are a couple of photos which may or may not get published at some time, and it looks like I may be talked into attending a salsa class. I walked my friend and dancing partner/victim to her ferry, which she missed by about 2 minutes, so I hung around the pier for a bit with her, before heading back into town for the rugby. I'm not the biggest sports fan in the world, but I enjoy watching (and when I was at school, playing) rugby, and I enjoy the atmosphere of watching it with a big group of friends, old and new, in my regular pub. It was a 3am kickoff, but it was busy, loud, exciting, friendly, fun, and nobody can complain about the result - unless they're French, in which case, quite frankly, their opinion no longer counts. One thing to note: as is normally the case, there's no need to separate the fans watching a rugby match - although the pub I was in is primarily an English/Australian place, there were quite a few French fans in, and there is absolutely no genuine animosity between the fans. We were all there to enjoy the game and cheer on our team, and when a few people booed the French team, they were shouted down by other England fans, who decided that insulting them was fine, but booing then was unsportsmanlike. One historical sidenote - there's a certain irony to hearing God Save Our Queen sung lustily in a bar in Hong Kong, 10 years after the handover. Looking forward to the final next week!